Kim & the Butterfly

I had just finished reading Evan Osnos’ article about North Korea in the New Yorker when I saw it - a wind-thrashed leaf caught in a masterful web created by a formidable spider on our back porch. And then I realized that’s no leaf - that’s a butterfly. And it was fighting for its life as the spider rode it like the mechanical bull in Urban Cowboy. For twelve minutes I witnessed this scintillating drama unfold. Like North Korea, here was a vulnerable character cornered by a much more powerful, sophisticated foe with an overwhelming offensive system at its command. It should have been no contest but when fighting for your life you must dig deep to find inspiration and survive. No one yet knows if North Korea will get away with their nuclear ambitions but the butterfly got away, leaving a perplexed, frustrated superpower behind.

More from the New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/09/18/the-risk-of-nuclear-war-with-north-korea